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Conservative Party suspends Jack Ross after Al Jazeera undercover footage

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly left-leaning (67%).

4 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

The Conservative Party has suspended the membership of Jack Ross, a former party candidate and chief executive of Turning Point UK, pending an investigation. An Al Jazeera undercover documentary appears to show Ross discussing the cost of hiring contract killers and offering to broker the services of a far-right activist with alleged paramilitary links. Al Jazeera reports that Ross listed violent options to the reporter. The BBC reports that Ross was paid to provide social media work for the party until earlier this year, and that Ross said his words were not meant to be taken seriously. Party leader Kemi Badenoch called the allegations shocking. Police in Scotland said they will review the documentary for any criminality.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. The Conservative Party suspended Jack Ross’s membership with immediate effect pending an investigation, a party spokesman said.

    Reported byLeft2Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News

  2. Al Jazeera’s undercover documentary appears to show Ross discussing the cost of hiring contract killers and offering to broker a far-right activist’s services.

    Reported byLeft2Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News

  3. Ross is chief executive of Turning Point UK, and stood as a Conservative candidate in 2023.

    One side only: the leftReported byLeft2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, Al Jazeera English

  4. Party leader Kemi Badenoch called the allegations shocking.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News

  5. According to the BBC, Ross was paid to provide social media work for the Conservative Party for a brief period until earlier this year.

    One outletBBC News· Center

Show 2 more pointsShow fewer points

  1. According to the BBC, Ross said his words were not meant to be taken seriously.

    One outletBBC News· Center

  2. Police in Scotland said they will review the documentary for any criminality.

    One outletThe Guardian· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • Ross offered to broker the hiring of contract killers.

    Al Jazeera’s undercover footage appears to show Ross making the offer, while the BBC reports Ross said his words were not meant to be taken seriously.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All outlets report that the Conservative Party suspended Jack Ross after an Al Jazeera film appeared to show him discussing hiring contract killers. Left-rated outlets center the footage itself, while the BBC centers Ross’s past paid party work and his statement that his words were not meant seriously.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left-rated outlets lead with the party’s suspension of Ross and the undercover Al Jazeera investigation, placing the contract-killing offer at the center of the headline.

    Conservative Party suspends ex-candidate filmed in Al Jazeera investigation
    Al Jazeera EnglishLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The BBC headline leads with Ross’s past work for the party and the contract-killing claim, framing the story around the party’s link to him.

    Tory activist in 'contract killing broker' claim had worked for party HQ
    BBC NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read all 4 articles in context. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • party suspension of Ross
  • undercover Al Jazeera investigation
  • offer to broker far-right activist
See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Ross’s past party work
  • Badenoch’s shocking allegations
  • suspended party membership
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • BBC NewsCenter

    Tory activist in 'contract killing broker' claim had worked for party HQ

    Jack Ross was contracted to do social media work for the party until earlier this year, the BBC has been told.

    Read at BBC News (opens in a new tab)

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Guardian, Oct 21, 2:13 PM EDT

  • Center

    2 days 8 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 23, 10:52 PM EDT

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The GuardianLeftOct 21, 2:13 PM EDT
  2. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 21, 3:36 PM EDT
  3. BBC NewsCenterOct 23, 10:52 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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